Cech Czechs France

When the moment of the dreaded penalty shoot-out arrives it must be of the greatest comfort to know that between your posts stands a goalkeeper who over the course of the previous 90 minutes, and then extra time, has been well nigh invincible.

Tables turned
Petr Cech, the giant keeper with a big reputation to match, was named man of the match in last night's UEFA European Under-21 Championship final at the Saint Jakob stadium in Basel, after he - more than anyone - had helped the Czech Republic turn the tables on the favourites, France. True, their triumph came from  penalties but it nevertheless erased the unhappy memory of their narrow defeat by a single goal in the 2000 final against Italy.

Dangerous wobble
They had, however, wobbled dangerously for the first 30 minutes as France initially pinned them back, attacking on a broad front. But once Miroslav Beránek's team got a grip on midfield they improved greatly and after half time they were the stronger outfit. Their much-vaunted opponents, winners of all four previous games in the Switzerland tournament - including by 2-0 in their opening fixture against the Czechs - wilted visibly.

Spirit of togetherness
"The French were very strong for 30 minutes and we were indebted to Petr Cech in that time" said Beránek. "But we got better and in the second half we were the stronger team." Beránek's squad have forged a formidable spirit of togetherness during the tournament, steadily raising their game after that opening defeat. The coach deserves credit for the way he juggled with his resources from game to game, resting players, but without harming their prospects of becoming the first Czech winners of this competition since it switched to an U21 event in 1978.

Cup final duty
"It was good for us to play France in the first game because the players knew how they would play, but it was very important that the players made progress in their physical shape between the first game and the final," said Beránek. Three days before the start of the tournament he still had ten players on duty at the Czech Cup final.

Domenech's tribute
The French coach, Raymond Domenech, paid tribute to the Czechs' superior energy levels and conceded his team had fallen away badly in the second half. Yet they had begun with drive and dash that pointed to only one winner early on. Pegguy Luyindula showed his pace and linked well with both Sidney Govou and Steed Malbranque and in midfield Benoit Pedretti made vital tackles and showed impeccable vision. Meanwhile, the Czechs' plan to feed the ball to their lone striker, Milan Baroš, floundered as they too easily surrendered possession.

Cech spreads confidence
However, Cech began to show the quality that earned him rave reviews in the UEFA Champions League with AC Sparta Praha, making a series of good saves, spreading confidence among his defenders and, crucially, showing a clean pair of hands whenever he was called upon to deal with crosses and corners. Gradually Lukáš Zelenka and Petr Vorisek began to get a grip in midfield and drive their team forward so that the Czechs were able to shake off the twin blows of losing Baroš and Martin Jiranek to injury before half-time.

'History only knows winners'
"We spoke before the game and said how much we wanted to be the champions," said Beránek. "I told the players that history only knows the winners." In the second half Beránek pushed Stepan Vachousek up alongside the substitute Michal Pospíšil and now it was the Czechs who looked the more likely to score with Karel Pitak twice guilty of rash finishing. On it went into extra time with Cech continuing to frustrate the favourites.

'Great goalkeeper'
France were unbeaten in the qualifying campaign and conceded just a single goal from their five games in Switzerland. "This group of players have a lot of talent and have given the team their best result for ten years," said Domenech. "It is hard to lose on penalties."They had a great goalkeeper, great not only in size but also in the way he played, and that made the difference." Pierre-Alain Frau, Julien Escude and Jean-Alain Boumsong who all missed from the spot and enabled the Czechs to ease through in the penalty shoot-out would no doubt say amen to that.